Stripe’s Dublin unit sees revenue jump 66% to €2.3bn

Pretax losses fall 84% at arm of Collison brothers’ company

Revenue at the Dublin unit of online payments company Stripe last year jumped by 66 per cent to $2.25 billion (€2.3 billion).

New accounts filed by Stripe Payments International Holdings Ltd, led by brothers John and Patrick Collison, show that the business enjoyed a $896.9 million (€932.8 million) increase in revenues rising from $1.358 billion (€1.4 billion) to $2.255 billion (€2.3 billion) last year.

The firm is the holding company for Stripe sales in the European Middle East and Africa region along with the Asia Pacific region.

Pretax losses reduced sharply at the Stripe unit, declining by 84 per cent from $135.5 million (€140.8 million) to $22.12 million (€23 million) last year.

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In a note with the accounts the directors describe Stripe as an “Irish-American technology group” and said that at Stripe Payments International Holdings Ltd “turnover and the associated cost of sales have increased due to growth in business from existing users, expansion into new markets, launching new products in the region and an increase in user adoption in existing markets”.

The note also said that “in addition, the increase in cost of sales is also driven by research and development costs”.

Founded in 2010 by the Collison brothers, Stripe was first declared a “unicorn” – a privately-owned company that is valued at more than $1 billion – in 2014. Patrick Collison (34) is the company’s chief executive while John (32) is president.

Last year, $640 billion (€666.2 billion) in payments was processed by businesses on Stripe globally while it now operates in 45 countries and supports more than 135 currencies and payment methods.

Numbers employed at the Dublin arm last year almost doubled from 569 to 1,048.

A breakdown of the numbers employed show that 359 were employed in administration, 328 in sales, 228 in engineering and 133 in user operations.

The firm’s staff costs last year increased to $155.3 million (€161.6 million) that included wage costs of $137.35 million (€142.9 million). The staff costs also include equity settled share based payments of $2 million (€2.08 million).

The $137.3 million (€142.8 million) in wage costs works out at an average salary of $131,059 (€136,398). Key management shared pay last year totalling $3.7 million (€3.8 million).

The business’s consolidated balance sheet received a major boost during the year with a $200 million (€208.1 million) share premium along with a further $200 million share capital presented as equity.

The firm also received a fresh capital contribution of $93.69 million (€97.49 million) resulting in a shareholders’ deficit of $208.2 million (€216.63 million) at the end of 2020 becoming shareholder funds of $265.33 million (€276.08 million) last December.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times